A portable, handheld game console includes a main body incorporating a touch-sensitive display screen and a variety of input devices. The input devices can include shoulder buttons located on a peripheral side surface of the main body, as well as input devices located on the main body adjacent the touch-sensitive display screen.

A terminal device for playing a game includes a display screen for displaying animation of the game, and processing circuitry. The processing circuitry detects a frame rate inadequacy of animation frames that are generated according to animation features respectively associated with animation files. Then, the processing circuitry obtains preconfigured values respectively associated with the animation files. A preconfigured value associated with an animation file is indicative of performance influence for turning off an animation feature associated with the animation file. Further, the processing circuitry turns off one or more animation features according to the preconfigured values associated with the animation files until an adequate frame rate is achieved.

One or more non-transitory computer-readable recording media stores instructions, which when executed by an information processing device that communicates with a communication terminal, causes the information processing device to: retrieve, for each of one or more pieces of second information, respective function related information pertaining to a game executed by the communication terminal, determine, for each of the one or more pieces of second information, whether the retrieved respective function related information satisfies a respective predetermined condition; for each respective function related information that satisfies the respective predetermined condition, generate an image corresponding to a respective one of the one or more pieces of second information; generate layout information for overlaying each generated image on first information displayed on a display of the communication terminal, the one or more pieces of second information generated by a second application program and the first information generated by a first application program.

Content displayed in an area displayed by a native application can be changed without being updated by a user. A first image is generated on a communication terminal (20) in response to launching of an application installed on the communication terminal (20) and is displayed in a first area on a screen of the communication terminal (20). An image generator (16) generates a second image displayed in a second area differing from the first area. The image generator (16) also generates a third image displayed in a third area included in the first area. A server (10) displays the second image in the second area on the screen of the communication terminal (20) and displays the third image by overlaying the third image on the first image in the third area included in the first area on the screen of the communication terminal (20).

A board game system comprises one or more game objects, a processing device, a memory device and one or more cameras. Each of the game objects comprise a unique visual marker positioned on a top surface of the game object, wherein the unique visual marker comprises a series of concentric rings that represent data that uniquely identifies the game object. As a result, during the course of game play, the location and identification of the game objects are able to be determined by the processing device by analyzing images captured by the one or more cameras of the visual markers of the game objects on the game board. The processing device is able to compare the data of the visual markers to a table stored in the memory device that associates the data with a specific game object.

A non-limiting example game system comprises a server and a plurality of game apparatuses, each game apparatus emulating a game program. If applying a predetermined instruction during a game, a game screen is captured and an image file is produced. Furthermore, at this time, emulator status information is uploaded to the server from a game apparatus. Then, the server transmits a URL indicative of a storing location of the emulator status information to the game apparatus. The game apparatus writes the URL as metadata of the image file, and uploads the image file to the server. Furthermore, the game apparatus downloads a desired image file from the server, and downloads the emulator status information according to the URL that is acquired from the downloaded image file. An emulator status of another game apparatus can be reproduced by reading this emulator state information.

Some implementations of this application are directed to a server system including one or more CPUs, a plurality of GPUs, main dynamic memory storing programs and data for use by the CPUs and/or GPUs during program execution, a static memory pool stored in a non-volatile memory, and a memory controller configured to manage the static memory pool. Each of the GPUs includes a local cache and is configured to access the static memory pool via the memory controller. The server system executes a plurality of gaming sessions for a gaming title in parallel on the one or more CPUs. Each of the plurality of gaming sessions is associated with a static data item stored in the static memory pool, and requires a graphics operation executable by a respective GPU using the static data item.

A video game includes an audio-video stream combined with game graphics and game sounds. The game graphics are overlaid on the video stream and updated in synchronization with the stream. Update of the game graphics and sounds depends on inputs received from a game player. The game player may provide input using a game controller coupled to the video game by an adapter. The video game may play on a Blu-ray player.

An example system includes a first computing device comprising a first graphics processing unit (GPU) implemented in circuitry, and a second computing device comprising a second GPU implemented in circuitry. The first GPU is configured to perform a first portion of an image rendering process to generate intermediate graphics data and send the intermediate graphics data to the second computing device. The second GPU is configured to perform a second portion of the image rendering process to render an image from the intermediate graphics data. The first computing device may be a video game console, and the second computing device may be a virtual reality (VR) headset that warps the rendered image to produce a stereoscopic image pair.

Methods and apparatus provide for: recording a sequence of video images output by a videogame, recording a sequence of depth buffer values for a depth buffer used by the videogame, recording a sequence of in-game virtual camera positions used to generate the video images, recording one or more in-game events and their respective in-game positions, associating the depth buffer value sequence, the in-game virtual camera position sequence, and an identifier for the videogame, with the video image sequence, and associating the one or more in-game events and their respective in-game positions with the identifier for the videogame. Methods an apparatus also provide for: obtaining a video recording of a videogame playing session, comprising a sequence of video images, obtaining a depth buffer value sequence, an in-game virtual camera position sequence, and an identifier for the videogame that are associated with the video recording, obtaining data indicative of a statistically significant in-game event and an in-game event position, calculating a position within the current video image corresponding to the in-game event position, in dependence upon the associated in-game virtual camera position and depth buffer values, and augmenting the current video image with a graphical representation of the statistically significant in-game event, responsive to the calculated position.